Wednesday Woolgathering

Quarterback Mike Glennon and linebacker Sterling Lucas, the team captains, led the meeting, which in the words of senior safety Earl Wolff, boiled down to one question.

â€œWeâ€™re just trying to get everybody on the same page and make sure everybody is all in,â€ Wolff said. â€œBasically we said, â€˜if youâ€™re not all in, you can get out right now.â€™â€‰â€

No one left, and the players spent about three hours watching film Sunday, coach Tom Oâ€™Brien said.

There was plenty to be dissected from the Miami loss, with mistakes made by both the offense and defense.

â€œWe are all frustrated by the Miami game,â€ senior offensive lineman R.J. Mattes said. â€œMental errors cost us that game.â€

Mental errors such as eight pre-snap penalties, out of 14 called against N.C. State, for 100 yards, or giving up on a play because an offsides penalty was called. And there were physical mistakes, including blown coverages and turnovers.

With the improvements on the field has come more attention off of it. Florida State ranked sixth nationally last season in new season ticket sales, and it has surpassed that number this season, said Jerry Kutz, the vice president of Seminole Boosters, Inc. The booster club has expanded, Kutz said, and FSU students have exhausted their allotment of 16,500 tickets for every home game.

Kutz once a week has lunch with some old Florida State football assistant coaches â€“ guys who coached during the dynasty years. They told him that this FSU team looks as good as any, ever.

â€œYou had to see those teams to understand what great really looks like,â€ Kutz said, adding thereâ€™s hope this team is like those.

Manuel on Monday addressed the overall hype he and his teammates have been receiving, and he told reporters it wouldnâ€™t be a distraction.

â€œItâ€™s kind of like stepping stones, you know, like chopping that wood â€“ chopping down a tree,â€ he said. â€œWe want to continue to keep at it â€¦ you always want to make progress. I donâ€™t think thatâ€™s going to change our approach.â€

Thatâ€™s the kind of approach that Fisher, a disciple of the Nick Saban model of program-building, has attempted to teach his team.

Roman Gabriel played football at N.C. State in a distinctly different time and era.

It was a time when players rarely left the field in a game, when Wolfpack quarterbacks often threw passes only on third down, when the players dressed at Reynolds Coliseum and walked through the tunnel under the railroad track to Riddick Stadium.

The Pack did charter flights in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Sam Raneri, one of Gabrielâ€™s teammates, remembers flying Cuban Air, in a rickety prop plane, with the players sitting on benches facing each other like paratroopers, and their equipment bags stuffed between them.

Gabriel would be named All-America at N.C. State in 1960 and â€™61. He led the ACC in passing his senior season but didnâ€™t average 100 yards a game. He also would be the first Wolfpack player to have his jersey â€“ No. 18 â€“ retired.

And not just for his play at quarterback. Gabriel was a standout in the Pack secondary and likes to recall the 1960 game against North Carolina in Kenan Stadium, when he forced a fumble at the goal line and intercepted a pass in a 3-0 victory.

Of his induction into N.C. Stateâ€™s Athletics Hall of Fame, Gabriel first said heâ€™s honored to be part of the first class of inductees. The Wilmington native then talked of the Wolfpack players before him â€“ Alex Webster, Darrell Dess and others â€“ he believed were just as deserving.

â€œAnd Iâ€™m really proud of the guys I played with,â€ Gabriel said. â€œWe only played three home games a year because we were busy traveling the country making money so they could build Carter-Finley Stadium. Despite all that, we never quit in a game. We played the likes of Alabama, UCLA, Arizona State, and played â€™em to a standstill. Who knows, if we had played some of those games at home it might have been better results.â€

On the other side of the field, the Wolfpackâ€™s Quintin Payton caught only two passes in the game. But they went for 83 yards (including a 73-yard bomb), to increase his per-catch average to an impressive 22.2 yards for the season. Overall, Payton has 19 catches for 421 yards and a touchdown this season.

Redshirt freshman center Joe Thuney got to experience his first taste of college football in the Wolfpack’s home opener against South Alabama when he appeared on six snaps with the second-team offense.
That group got in again the next week and saw 18 plays from scrimmage against The Citadel. However, Thuney was pressed into action with the first-team offensive line against Miami last Saturday, and he was glad he had some prior experience to lean on. The center logged 38 snaps in the game after starting guard Zach Allen went down with an injury and starting center Camden Wentz shifted over to guard. Despite missing three starters from opening night, NC State’s offensive front performed admirably and paved the way for 224 yards rushing, while they allowed just two sacks against the Hurricanes.

“It went well, it was a lot faster than practice, but I thought I stuck in there pretty well and handled myself pretty well,” he said. “It definitely helped getting in the South Alabama and The Citadel games – getting used to it and getting my first snaps in. My teammates on the offensive line helped me out a lot in the Miami game.”

Wide receiver Charlie Hegedus already has a couple of receptions for 18 yards. Quarterback Manny Stocker is the all-important back-up quarterback, and linebacker M.J. Salahuddin has made a quick name for himself on special teams with three tackles, tied for second most on the squad.

Then Shadrach Thornton had the splashiest debut of them all by rushing 21 times for 145 yards and two touchdowns in the 52-14 win over The Citadel and following that up with 87 rushing yards at Miami last Saturday.

Quietly though, freshman offensive tackle Quincy McKinney has also seen the field, and it’s not an accomplishment McKinney takes lightly.

“I believe it just comes from hard work and me being pushed my teammates, definitely,” McKinney stated. “It’s a big accomplishment cause a majority of the freshmen in the country actually don’t get to touch the field and get redshirted, so that is a big accomplishment. I’m proud of that.”

McKinney, lining up at second string left tackle with junior Rob Crisp missing the last three games with an unspecified injury, first got action against South Alabama Sept. 15, playing six snaps.

Stats of note from the early-season:
â€”N.C. State ranks second in the ACC and 8th in the nation in tackles for loss. (8.00 TFL per game)
â€”N.C. State ranks 12th in the ACC and 97th in the nation in pass defense. (278.60 passing yards allowed per game)
â€”N.C. State ranks 11th in the ACC and 106th in the nation in sacks allowed. (3.20 sacks allowed per game)
***

Players to know: QB, Mike Glennon. An argument could be made that until this season, Glennon spent his career playing in the shadow of former Wolfpack star quarterback Russell Wilson. Yes, Wilson left the program last summer to transfer to Wisconsin before getting drafted by the Seattle Seahawks this April, but the drama his departure caused left an impact on the Wolfpack for much of the 2011 season. One could argue that Glennon began emerging from Wilson’s shadow at the end of last year’s 8-5 run that included a three-game end-of-season winning streak, but it wasn’t until this season that the team finally and rightfully became completely his. So far, he has not disappointed, either. Glennon has completed 109 of his 176 attempts so far this season. He also has more than 1,400 yards passing and 10 touchdowns. Where he hasn’t been so good is in the turnover department. The senior has six interceptions already this season.

RB, Tony Creecy. N.C. State’s offense likes to begin with Glennon’s right arm and the passing game. Still, when the Wolfpack run, they mix up rushing responsbilities — much like the Seminoles — between several different ballcarriers. Creecy has been N.C. State’s most-used tailback this season, rushing 50 times for 250 yards. He has three rushing touchdowns and caught 11 passes for 51 yards and a score. His 250 rushing yards rank him fourth in the ACC. He may finally be hitting his stride, too. Against Miami this weekend, the sophomore had a career-high 120 yards rushing in the shootout.

RB, Shadrach Thornton. A true freshman, Thornton has passed fellow running back Mustafa Greene on carries and quality runs as we near the halfway point of the season. Greene still is a a running back to be aware of, but since his suspension three games ago, Thornton has emerged and poses a major threat to any team facing N.C. State. After not playing in the first three games, Thornton has become a rising star at N.C. State following a pair of big performances in the last two weeks. During his first game, Thornton rushed for 145 yards and two touchdowns in the big win over The Citadel. Against Miami, he had 87 yards on 17 carries. He and Creecy give the offense the type of rushing balance that can make Glennon dangerous as the season progresses and teams have to respect both the pass and rush.

WR, Qinton Payton. Payton is one of five Wolfpack receivers with double-digit receptions so far this season. With 19 catches, he is the team leader. His 421 yards receiving also leads the team. More of a possession receiver who will put the Wolfpack in striking range for a score, Payton only has one touchdown this season. The junior has two 100-yard receiving games (vs. Tennessee and vs. The Citadel).

WR, Bryan Underwood. The sophomore may not have the yards Payton does, but when it comes to scoring, he has proven to be the Wolfpack’s most consistent playmaker. Underwood already has six touchdown receptions. He had two against Miami over the weekend. His 12 receptions are just four off the 16 he had as a freshman last year.

DB, Brandan Bishop. Bishop ranks second on the team in total tackles with 36. A heavy hitter, all but six of his stops are of the solo variety. He also has forced a pair of fumbles and intercepted a pass. While two other defensive backs get most of the attention in the N.C. State backfield, Bishop is one the Seminoles cannot afford to overlook.

S, Earl Wolff. One of those well-known defensive backs, Wolff, has earned a reputation for being a hard-hitter with a penchant for getting his hands on an occasional pass. So far this season, he has a team-leading 38 total tackles and a 16-yard interception return. He has 2.5 tackles for loss. As a junior last year, he was one of the ACC’s most feared defensive backs. He had three interceptions and 105 total tackles while playing in David Amerson’s shadow.

Junior forward C.J. Leslie, who also was tabbed as a preseason All-American by The Sporting News, is NC Stateâ€™s top returning scorer averaging 14.7 points per game last year. Junior guard Lorenzo Brown led the team in assists with 234 last season and his 6.3 average was the best since Chris Corchiani averaged 9.5 assists per game in 1991. Brown was second on the team in scoring, averaging 12.7 points per contest.

UNC-Chapel Hillâ€™s Department of Naval Science exists to produce â€œhighly qualifiedâ€ officers who serve on ships, aircraft and submarines, or in the Marine Corps.

For the spring semester in 2007, it also taught a half-dozen menâ€™s basketball players.

Enrollment records requested by The News & Observer show that the department had become a popular place for athletes. One class particularly stands out: Naval Weapons Systems, or NAVS 302, which met in the spring of 2007. Of 38 students in the class, 30 were athletes.

Six of those were members of the menâ€™s basketball team. The classâ€™s average grade that semester was 3.63, or better than a B-plus, and the classâ€™ work requirements were deemed so difficult to assess that its structure was later changed.

[snip]

NAVS 302 is the most recent questionable class to surface in an academic scandal that has led to multiple investigations on campus and prompted Chancellor Holden Thorp to announce his resignation last month. Until now, the questions focused on â€œno-showâ€ classes in the Department of African and Afro-American Studies, and involved mostly football players.

But this class, which did meet, included a substantial portion of the basketball team. Frasor said that Wayne Walden, a former assistant director for academic support who handled the basketball team, had recommended the class.

Walden, who no longer works at UNC, could not be reached. He was brought to UNC from the University of Kansas shortly after menâ€™s basketball coach Roy Williams was hired from there. Williams had described Walden as being an integral part of the basketball program.

[snip]

The syllabus for the NAVS 302 class shows that it was a different type of course than in other years. It had no required exams or quizzes and no major research paper. Students received much of their grade from a two- to three-page double-spaced midterm paper and a group project that required a 20-minute oral presentation split among five students.

Frasor recalled the paper was on weaponry and the presentation was on battle scenarios.

The professor for the class, Lt. Brian Lubitz, taught it only once, UNC records show. A former captain for the Naval Academy soccer team, he also was earning his MBA from UNCâ€™s Kenan-Flagler Business School at the time. He now works in Philadelphia for the investment firm Goldman Sachs.

[snip]

Much of the problems at UNC have focused on football because the NCAA brought sanctions against the program and because football players made up more than a third of the enrollments in the no-show classes.

Enrollment data for the African studies classes show basketball players accounted for 23 enrollments over a two-year period that began with the first summer semester of 2007. In two cases, the sole enrollee in one of the no-show classes was a basketball player. There were no more enrollments after the summer of 2009, while football players continued to enroll in no-show classes.

The universityâ€™s records show athletes accounted for more than half the enrollments in at least four other naval science classes. One weapons class, held in the fall of 2008, had 26 athletes, eight of them football players. The grade-point average for the class was 3.84.

Lubitz spelled out in his syllabus that he reserved the right to have quizzes and tests. But the class syllabus says, â€œAt this time none are anticipated.â€

About 1.21 Jigawatts

Class of '98, Mechanical Engineer, State fan since arriving on campus and it's been a painful ride ever since. I live by the Law of NC State Fandom, "For every Elation there is an equal and opposite Frustration."
View all posts by 1.21 Jigawatts →

18 Responses to Wednesday Woolgathering

” … you know, like chopping that wood â€“ chopping down a tree,â€ he said. â€œWe want to continue to keep at it â€¦ you always want to make progress. I donâ€™t think thatâ€™s going to change our approach.â€ “

Just … yeah.

And great work from Kane and Curliss on the NAVS class. There may be blood in the water yet … Hope the sharks are coming.

It bothers me that our practice speed is soo much slower than game speed. MAYBE that’s why we looked to be a step behind Tennessee and miami. We need to crank up the practices because it’s showing. So sick of TOB not wanting to “micromanage” like he said in his interview. He doesn’t coach our team, his assistants do. We pay him to be the figurehead of a mediocre program and it’s rediculous.

The big bombshells (and they are big) in this one are that we are now outside the “AFAM” department…they have tried to contain the academic scandal to AFAM…and we now have that academic advisor guy Roy brought from Kansas steering basketball players…they have tried to keep basketball out of it.

Anyone else find themselves laughing maniacally about this latest article about things over at the dump on the hump? Funny shiz.

I hope Carter-Finley is a wave of Red and White that is so loud that there are noise complaints coming from Sanford. The crowd and its verocity will play a huge role come Saturday night. Everybody get loud! GO WOLFPACK!

The “Navy” issue would not bother me so much except the jocks were steered to the class by someone from the athletic dept. Does that rise to the level of the AFAM mess? Not in my opinion but it does raise more questions.

“Enrollment records requested by The News & Observer show that the department had become a popular place for athletes. One class particularly stands out: Naval Weapons Systems, or NAVS 302, which met in the spring of 2007. Of 38 students in the class, 30 were athletes.

Six of those were members of the menâ€™s basketball team.“

Half the team took that particular class. About ninety percent of the enrollees were athletes. Why?

All of a sudden a large number of “student” athletes are going to out of the blue enroll in a 300-level Naval Academy class? Again, why?

Well, this could have something to do with it:

“Lubitz left UNC in 2009 and went to Goldman Sachs; around that time, he also was on the board of a foundation that aimed to connect the children of fallen soldiers with executives, athletes, entertainers and others.”

The obvious dots to connect there are that Lt. Lubitz wanted access to “student” athletes to garner their time and appearances for his charity. The academic support staff, et al., wanted a nice, easy course to help keep their athletes eligible with minimal, if any, actual coursework.

That to me sounds akin to a ‘good ole boy’ network that is not only conducive to fraud but it actually perpetuates it.

Mr. Walden and his academic support staff knew exactly what they were getting with the creation of this class. A class designed to keep athletes eligible.

The chancellor all but admits it:

“Thorp said in an interview that the class looks like an example of clustering, in which students group around a particular class or major. Universities try to track clustering to make sure classes and majors have not become easy spots for athletes trying to keep their grades up to stay eligible for sports.”

There is absolutely zero basis for that many athletes to be taking Naval Academy classes. None. One athlete or a few? Yeah, you can write that off. But half the basketball team? 30 enrollees in one NAVS class of 38 total enrollees are athletes?

That class was designed for a purpose – and it sure as hell wasn’t to ensure that we’re getting highly trained and skilled officers in our Navy. It was to help keep Unx Chapel Hill athletes eligible to compete.

Absolutely sickening. To top it off, a charity is involved. I’m sure the warped minds in Chapel Hill who cooked up this one thought they were doing overall good … “Hey! We’re helping our student athletes AND helping a charity!!!”

Per N&O…”Hansbrough said he was enrolled in Swahili because he thought â€œit would be coolâ€ and Naval Weapons Systems because â€œI wanted classes about things I wouldnâ€™t necessarily be exposed to on my own.â€

OK…..first things first. In all seriousness, I certainly hope that Roy Williams biopsy is negative today. He does not deserve the fate that was dealt Jimmy V. I wish he and his family the best.

Now, that was totally from the heart. But we also need to get back to the current situation.

Did I really understand (and I admit that the notes on my playbill are getting way larger than the margins allow) that Mr. Wayne Walden, who came to UNC with (or as part of a package deal) resigned almost immediately during the Butchie – Jenny – AFAM scenes started to play out.

Mr. Walden (who may be at the pond with LF for all I know) was a CRITICAL part of the UNC BB program…per Coach Williams. He then advised or recommended a Naval Weapons Course…I THOUGHT that you had to be enrolled in Naval ROTC to get into those. When I was in advanced ROTC (voluntary….not like the first two years) at State, you could not enroll in the MS (Military Science) courses unless you were enrolled (signed on the dotted line) in the program.

So, my, how times have changed. My first thought was that a Naval Weapons course at UNC would involve taking lint from certain hero worshipping coed’s navals and seeing if the bacteria could be replicated as a WMD.

BUT, it sounds like the course was a bit more serious, but not by much, than my first impression.

This is a riot (which is illegal at UNC based on the student handbook).

I watched a bit of Fox News last night and saw John Stossel and a bunch of UNC students “debate”. Stossel said that it was against the Honor Code to explicity or implicity “ASK” for carnal knowledge with another UNC student. SO, when the student forced him/herself (since the word freshMAN has been banned) on another student in a sexual manner and the other student screamed NO-NO-NO, then since it is against the honor code to ask, that the NO-NO-NO is not relavent in a court of law as it was the answer to a question that could not be asked. Did I get that right?

No wonder UNC is in this mess…..

The N&O probably has MORE of this info and will be leaking it as the news days get slow.

At least Tyler is now prepared to serve aboard a US Naval Vessel off the coast of Africa.